LOCJohn Lesson43-Jesus is Crucified and Buried - Mission Arlington

Jesus is Crucified and Buried
Younger Verse
Older Verse
Bible Story
*Psalm 22:18
Lesson Goals
The LORD laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. Isaiah 53:6 (NLT)
To see Jesus’ crucifixion as something He knew about and came for.
To understand that John wrote what He saw so that we might believe.
John 19:17-42
All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the
LORD laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. Isaiah 53:6 (NLT)
The following is a summary of the Bible story to help supplement your preparation.
In your personal study time, use this summary as a guide, and make notes to help
you remember your plans for the lesson. Please do NOT read to the children.
In our last lesson, the story from the first part of John 19, we
talked about the beating Jesus received from the Roman soldiers. The
Roman leader, Pilate, sent Jesus to be beaten with a whip. Jesus came
back wearing the purple robe and crown of thorns they put on Him, to
make fun of Him. Pilate had hoped the beating would make the Jewish
leaders happy, but all they wanted was to see Jesus nailed to a cross.
Pilate could have stopped Jesus’ crucifixion, but He was scared of
what the Jewish leaders might do. He sent Jesus away to be crucified.
Crucifixion was how the Romans punished and killed people. To be crucified
meant to be nailed to a cross. Jesus was to be crucified at a place
called Golgotha, or Calvary. Both these words mean “skull.” Those
were names given to a hill outside of the city of Jerusalem that looks
like a skull. Jesus started off toward Golgotha, the place of the skull,
carrying His own cross. When Jesus arrived at the place, they nailed
Him to a cross and left Him to hang there. Two other men were crucified
there, one on either side of Jesus.
While Jesus was hanging on the cross, the Roman soldiers took
Jesus’ robe and other clothes and each took a part. Jesus had one very
nice, long robe, one that would have been very expensive. The soldiers
decided not to tear this one. Instead, they rolled dice to see whose it
would be. This seems like such a simple thing, but it really is amazing!
Why? Because about a thousand years before Jesus was crucified, King
David wrote a song about Jesus’ death on the cross. In that song it
says, “They divide my clothes among themselves and throw dice for my
garments!”* Do you think that any of what happened that day on the
cross, or even the days before, were a surprise to Jesus? They were not.
Jesus even knew that almost everything had happened that needed to

*Psalm 22:18
Memory Verse
Activity
before He died. Because He knew this, He told the soldiers that He was
thirsty. They lifted up to Jesus a leafy branch soaked with sour vinegar.
When Jesus had wet His mouth with the vinegar, He said, “It is finished,”
and then He died. Jesus had completed everything He came to
do!
The Jews were in a hurry to remove the bodies from the three
crosses, but the other two men were still alive. To remove them faster,
the Roman soldiers broke their legs! Jesus looked dead, but they
wanted to be sure. The soldiers didn’t break His legs. That is as amazing
as the soldiers dividing Jesus’ clothing because God had already
said over 1,500 years before Jesus was crucified that His legs would not
be broken.* Without knowing this, the soldiers took a long spear and
pushed it into Jesus’ side. They now knew that Jesus was also dead.
Jesus was taken down from the cross. A man named Joseph
asked for Jesus’ body so that he could bury it. Joseph followed Jesus,
but secretly because he was afraid of the Jews. A man named Nicodemus
helped Joseph. Does anyone remember who Nicodemus was? He
visited Jesus at night. Jesus told him that you must be born again to
see God. Jesus also told him, “For God so loved the world, that He gave
His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but
have eternal life.” Nicodemus and Joseph put nice smelling oils and
spices on Jesus and wrapped him up in linen fabric. There was a garden
close by. In that garden was a tomb, or burial cave, that had never
been used. They placed Jesus there.
John, the disciple Jesus loved and cared for, was there at Jesus’
crucifixion. John stood at the cross with Jesus’ mother, Mary, her sister,
Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. John saw everything
that happened to Jesus that day and he wrote it down. He tells the
truth so that we can believe! Do you believe that God loved you so
much that He gave His one and only Son, Jesus, to die for you? If you
do not know, let’s talk. If you do know, are you telling others as John
did or are you like Joseph and Nicodemus, keeping it a secret because
you are afraid of what others will say and do? Who can you tell today?
Make a Chain of Sheep. Fold computer paper or manila paper accordion
style. Trace a sheep pattern on to the folded paper, making sure
pattern touches both ends. Cut around the bottom and top of the sheep
figure, leaving sides uncut. Unfold your Chain of Sheep and write the
memory verse across the bodies of the sheep.
Preparing for Next Week
Lesson 44
The Tomb is Empty!
John 20:1-18

Sing: “Jesus Loves Me”
Preschool Lesson
Jesus is Nailed to a Cross
Teach: In our last lesson we talked about how the Roman soldiers hit Jesus and how
they made fun of Him by putting a purple robe and crown of thorns on Him. The Roman
leader Pilate had ordered this. Pilate did not want Jesus to go to the cross, but he did not
stop it when he could have. He sent Jesus away to be nailed to a cross. Jesus was going
to a place called Golgotha. Golgotha was a hill outside of the city of Jerusalem. Jesus
headed to the hill carrying His own cross. When Jesus got there, they nailed Him to His
cross and left Him to hang there. Two other men were crucified there. One man hung on
the cross on Jesus’ left. The other man hung on the cross on Jesus’ right.
While Jesus was hanging on the cross, the Roman soldiers took His clothes and
each took a part. Jesus had one very nice, long robe. The soldiers decided not to tear this
one. Instead, they rolled dice to see who would get it. As Jesus hung on the cross, he go
thirsty. He told the soldiers that He was thirsty and they lifted a leafy branch up to Him
that had been soaked with sour vinegar. After Jesus wet His mouth with the vinegar, He
said, “It is finished,” and then He died. Jesus had finished everything He came to do!
Some men were in a hurry to remove Jesus and the other men from the three
crosses. Jesus was taken down from the cross. A man named Joseph asked for Jesus’
body so that he could bury it. Joseph followed Jesus. A man named Nicodemus helped
Joseph. Does anyone remember who Nicodemus was? He visited Jesus at night and Jesus
told him, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever
believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” Nicodemus and Joseph put nice
smelling oils and spices on Jesus and wrapped him up in fabric. There was a garden close
by. In that garden was a cave that had never been used. They placed Jesus there.
John, one of Jesus’ disciples, was there when Jesus was nailed to the cross. John
stood at the cross with Jesus’ mother, Mary, her sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary
Magdalene. John saw everything that happened to Jesus that day and he wrote it down.
He tells the truth so that we can believe! Do you believe that God loved you so much that
He gave His one and only Son, Jesus, to die for you?
Pray: Thank you, God, for sending Jesus for me!

Activities
• Provide coloring pages and word puzzles that will enhance what you have taught today.
• Cut out squares of linen with pinking sheers. Apply a drop of perfume to each linen
square. Pin one to each student or staple them to colored index cards. Talk with your
students about Jesus’ burial. Review with them how Joseph and Nicodemus came and
prepared Jesus’ body for burial. They put perfumed oil on His body and wrapped Him
in linen.
• Make craft stick crosses.
• Make “God’s Eyes” or “Ojo de Dios.” You might want to make this with the colors of the
salvation bracelets and use it to review the plan of salvation with your students. (Black
for our sin, red for the blood of Jesus, white for purity, blue for baptism, green for
growth, and gold for eternal life.)
• Make a time line of the last week or night of Jesus’ life. Use coloring pages or clip art to
represent the story from Palm Sunday through Jesus’ crucifixion. Mix up the pictures
and encourage your students to arrange them in order.
• For older students: Talk about John 1:29, 36. Jesus is the “Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world!” God gave John the Baptist understanding of this three
years before Jesus’ crucifixion. Let students tell you how this was accomplished in Jesus’
death.
• For older students: Talk about the memory verse. Recall what was learned in the
study of John 10. Talk about how we resemble sheep and what it means that God put
all of our sin and guilt on Jesus.